Europe will not allow attacks, says France, after Trump’s threat on Greenland

France has said the European Union will not allow other nations to attack its “sovereign borders” after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out using military force to seize Greenland.

On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his desire to acquire the autonomous Danish territory, saying it was “critical” to national and economic security.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told French radio that “there is obviously no doubt that the European Union will allow other nations of the world to attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are.”

Barrot said he did not believe the United States would invade the vast Arctic island, but he was clear that the EU should not be intimidated.

Denmark, a former ally of the United States, has repeatedly made clear that Greenland is not for sale and that it belongs to its inhabitants.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede is pushing for independence and has also made it clear that the territory is not for sale. I was visiting Copenhagen on Wednesday.

Trump made the comments at a free news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, less than two weeks before being sworn in for his second term as president.

Asked if he would rule out using military or economic force to seize Greenland or the Panama Canal, Trump said: “No, I can’t tell you either of those things.

“But I can say this: We need them for economic security.”

Greenland has hosted a US radar base since the Cold War and has long been strategically important to Washington.

Trump suggested the island was crucial to military efforts to track Chinese and Russian ships, which he said are “everywhere.”

“I’m talking about protecting the free world,” he told reporters.

Speaking to France Inter radio, Barrot said: “If you ask me if I believe the United States will invade Greenland, my answer is no.

“Have we entered an era where survival of the fittest returns? So the answer is yes.

“So if we allow ourselves to be intimidated and overwhelmed by worry, clearly not. We must wake up, strengthen our forces.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish television on Tuesday that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders” and that only the local population could determine its future.

However, he stressed that Denmark needed close cooperation with the United States, a NATO ally.

Greenland, which is the world’s largest island but has a population of only 57,000, has extensive autonomy, although its economy is largely dependent on subsidies from Copenhagen and remains part of the kingdom of Denmark.

It also has some of the largest deposits of rare earth minerals, which are crucial in the manufacturing of batteries and high-tech devices.

Steffen Kretz, an international correspondent for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, who has been reporting in the Greenland capital of Nuuk, said most people he had spoken to were “shocked” by Trump’s suggestion that he might use force. military to take control of the territory.

While most Greenlanders hoped for independence in the future, he said there was widespread recognition that it needed a partner that could provide public services, defense and an economic base, as Denmark does now.

“I have yet to meet a single person in Greenland who dreams of the island becoming a colony of another foreign power like the United States.”

Kretz told the BBC that while the Danish government had tried to “downplay” any confrontation with Trump, “behind the scenes I feel an awareness that this conflict has the potential to be the biggest international crisis for Denmark in modern history.” .

The president-elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr, made a brief visit to Greenland on Tuesday, in what he described as a “personal one-day trip” to talk to people.

He then posted a photo with a group of Greenlanders in a bar wearing pro-Trump hats.